


Purifier's Tale

by Voidspeaker (Cloudspun)



Series: OFFworld [4]
Category: OFF (Game)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-05
Updated: 2014-06-06
Packaged: 2018-02-03 11:24:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1743035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cloudspun/pseuds/Voidspeaker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Batter tells the story of how he and Silence broke the world,</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> "So... remind me again why you're so close to Silence?"  
> Batter glanced at the merchant, cocking an eyebrow. "She's my Player. It's.... a part of the deal, as it were."  
> "But, even now, after she's set everything right, you still act like a brother or father to her." Zacharie prodded, a hopeful gleam in his eye. "Besides, the Author wants to write about the misadventures during your quest."  
> "I really hate it when you break the fourth wall, Zach. Fine. Have your Author start writing."

He stretched his shoulders, feeling tendons popping under the pressure, and sighed. Information blazed in his mind, a name and gender burning into his memory. Then, the Player's avatar winked into existence before him; he saw long brown hair and purplish brown eyes, a shorter, stout figure, and a stubborn expression.

That expression softened when she looked at him, then became curious, inspecting.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Batter." she said softly, her words echoing a faint germanic accent.

"The pleasure is mine, Mademoiselle.... Silence?" He responded, raising an eyebrow. She smiled, chuckled, and stretched, before cocking her head and staring off into space for a moment.

"Alright.. I suppose we should go on."

"We should seek out the Judge. He should be able to help us." Batter asserted, blinking as the knowledge flooded into his mind.

"Find the Judge, purify the Zones. Gotcha." The Player responded with a smile. turning, she walked up toward the bright-yellow buildings, her pace quick and determined. Batter startled, then followed.

Their first encounter with the Judge went.... not as planned. Batter had scoffed at the disheveled cat, while Silence had listened intently. When the Judge had offered a combat tutorial for the Player to orient herself, she had glanced at Batter, then off to the distance, before politely declining.

"I've been through a similar game style before. I'll be ok."

"You're sure you're not merely trying to impress me with bravado?" The Judge snarked; Batter watched as the Player sputtered and growled imprecations at the cat in a mix of German and somewhat broken English. He laughed outright when the Judge replied in a more polite mix of French and Shakespearian English.

"Shall we move on, then?" He interrupted, seeing the girl turn bright red.

"G-gute Idee, mein Freund." Silence hissed, glaring at the cat as he vanished upstairs. He could tell, the girl had been somewhat offended that the cat had assumed she was a simple phantasm.

They passed through the three puzzles presented by the Judge rather quickly; Batter himself was surprised Silence had recalled the numbers so easily. He realized how when she froze for what seemed like five or six minutes, and his hand had passed right through her when he tried to question her.

This is a game to her, nothing more.

The memory made him ill. He'd forgotten the means of interaction that others had with this world. When she'd flickered back into existence he said nothing and continued to the red block, sending them flying up into the dark night sky.

The Nothingness scared her, and even disturbed him slightly. It  pulsed , like some monstrous beating organ, and he swore he saw tendrils reaching out for her.

She squeaked as he snatched her up onto his shoulders and dashed away toward the Zone Line, and had nearly deafened him as they dove down into the brilliant yellow of the world. It had taken him all of three minutes to get her to let go so he could move freely after that.

He made a mental note of that fear of heights, recalling a massive building from previous sessions, as well as a jump down a smokestack. It was good to see Alpha well and whole, once they got to the glowing, ringlike AddOn.

They entered the caverns after finding the ring; the Player had done well with the first group of spectres, balked at the second, and had left him to his own devices after the third nearly dropped Alpha. She didn't step in again until a January had riled him into a battle-focus and he'd forgotten to use what meager healing he had.

She left him to his own devices unless he  specifically  needed  her  to step in and guide him.

Otherwise it was as if he was "playing" this game himself. She took more interest in the people and the surroundings, She loved the cows, petting them on their noses and giggling softly when they mooed. Batter didn't know quite what to think of her, merely watching as she interacted with the other dwellers.

He almost wanted to demand she interact with  him . It was a childish notion, sure, but he still wanted some of that attention.

_** Then treat me in kind. ** _

He startled violently, almost losing his form in the panic that rushed over him. He turned and stared at the young woman, who was watching him cautiously.

" Excuse-moi ?"

"You heard. We're psychically linked for the time being. I can hear your thoughts if I so choose, and if you leave them open to be heard." She gave him a long, calm stare; he swore her eyes glittered red for a moment.

"I don't-"

"If you want me to interact with you, don't act like I'm not here. Talk to me. I'm horrible at initiating conversation, better at carrying it. If you want attention then say something."

Her tone was gentle, she was even almost-smiling. But it still hurt, he'd misunderstood from the first.

"Stop that. You're reminding me of me, and I wouldn't wish my thought-trains on anyone."

"But I have-"

"Misunderstood. It's normal, you're only human." she paused. "You  are human, right?"

"No. One two people here are human, the equivalent are the Elsens, as you've seen. None of them have individual names, those are reserved for the guardians." It was oddly easy to slide into the teacher's role; Batter found himself amused by how the Player was suddenly giving him her rapt attention, her mouth hanging slightly open.

"You act as if such thing is unthinkable."

Her jaw snapped closed. She shook her head and started to walk onward.

"Silence?"

"If one has no name, one has no soul. Such a thing is cruel." she whispered.

"We are, in fact, but pieces of data in your videogame. Why should we need souls, when you have but to press the reset button on your computer?" Batter pressed, knowing he was likely in for a lashing later.

"Data doesn't have personality or snark." She retorted.

"Well… I'll tell you my name, then." He smirked.

Her eyes flashed red again. "And the caveat?"

"You tell me yours."

"No deal. My name doesn't matter here." She turned and walked away towards Sachita. Batter sighed, and nodded. It was worth a shot, anyway.

* * *

The office-building went rather quickly and quietly, until the postal office. The burnt elsen was an old hat to the Batter; he'd seen and fought the poor wretch so many times it didn't even phase him anymore.

Silence, however, did not react as well. As the else collapsed to the ground, black sludge dripping from its neck and its head completely gone, she dropped to her knees with a faint wheeze.

"Player? Do not tell me you're being overcome as well." Batter called, turning. Indeed, his new player was paler than normal, but her expression was one of shock rather than fear.

"W...what…why…" She was shaking; Batter sighed.

"It is the nature of the Elsen to become Burnt, if they become too stressed. There is no other way to purify this area, he would've caused the others to go off as well." He explained. "Come, now, we need to get moving."

She didn't get up, nor did she respond. Batter sighed, then crouched next to her. Her eyes were wide and vacant, and there were faint tears in the corners. She swallowed, listing to one side and steadying herself on hands and knees; Batter muttered something and sat down, close enough to catch her if she fell.

A minute passed by, then another.

 

After about ten, Silence tensed in on herself with a choking sound; she turned and attached herself to the batter, sobs wracking her frame. Batter made a startled sound, before relaxing again. He lifted one hand and patted her on the shoulder, waiting for the shock to wear off.

After a while, her sobbing stopped.

_** Th...there isn't a way to save them, is there? ** _

"No, Player, I'm afraid there isn't… there is much worse to come, so I would suggest you make peace with the idea."

_** You make it sound easy. ** _

"I've had over a thousand repetitions to get used to it. Now, can you walk, or do I need to carry you?"

She shook her head, rocking back away from him and standing; she wiped her eyes on her sleeve, then gave him a weak smile.

"Why would I let you do that? You need to swing your bat; the spectres aren't gonna purify themselves, after all."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A brief touch on the fight with Dedan, and the entrance to Zone 2. It seems we have a bookworm for a Player, much to

For his player's sake, the Batter had taken as much care as he could to avoid killing the Elsens. She didn't break down again, even taunting and distracting Dedan (who seemed as callous and cruel as always) as they fought.

For the most part, she let him fight the Guardian on his own, only directing him from a distance. She provided a distraction for the foul-mouth, occasionally pitching stones at him with reasonable accuracy. But… when they won, and were transported out of the zone, Batter caught a glimpse of the chalky whiteness as the colors seeped away.

Silence was less afraid to walk the nothingness after that, meandering to the next zone line with the threads of a song wafting behind her; Batter assumed she hadn't seen Zone 1 collapse, and wondered what she would think if she knew what a trail of destruction they were leaving behind them.

"Silence? Any idea why the nothingness was hissing at us before?" Batter called to her, halting her tune and causing her to look back at him.

"Simple. Dark things don't like me. Never have, never will. It's one of those character flaws, I guess." She responded, shrugging her shoulders. Batter raised his eyebrows, shrugged, and let her lead the way to Zone 2.

* * *

The ungodly  _ shriek _ that Silence elicited upon their entry into the zone startled Batter into a state of battle; bat at the ready, he scanned the area searching for specters-

_ Where did my puppeteer go?! _

He searched more frantically, then, racing into the midnight-blue city. Panic swamped him when the stout brunette didn't appear, and he was almost blinded by fear.

_** Batter. Mein Freund, calm yourself. It's ok, I'm over this way. ** _

The gentle voice and soft guidance snapped him out of it; Batter swore he could hear the soft tune Silence had been humming earlier, and paid no heed as his feet moved at her direction. A tight hug around his midsection brought him out of the comforting lull he'd been in.

"I'm sorry… I saw the massive library and got excited. I didn't mean to startle you." the girl laughed softly, turning her brilliant smile up at him.

"Just… Please do not frighten me like that again. Were something to happen to you, the mission would be thrown into limbo, as would I and everyone else in this quiet existence." Batter muttered, turning and hoping she didn't see his second set of-

"You've got another pair of eyes?"

_ Merde _ .

He heard her giggle, felt her headbutt him hard enough to make him let her go.

"Don't be silly! I've seen far weirder than having an extra set; I'm sure that comes in handy, though." She smiled slightly, before grabbing his hand and pulling him into the giant library.

Batter thought of what lay ahead, and winced. The whole malfunction with Japhet and Valerie was going to kill her, he could feel it in his gut.

"Batter, c'mon! Let's check out the library! I wonder what kind of fiction they have…" She took his hand, pulling gently towards the library.

 

Unsurprisingly, Silence was disappointed by the false bookshelves. Batter let her wander, focusing on his mission. He found his way up to where the card-pages were torn from their books; placing pages back in their books, he was barely aware of his puppeteer's own readings.

He felt her curiosity at some book, then a rapid hush as she dimmed the connection between them to near-nonexistance.

Curious, he meandered back down the stairs (he needed to acquire the last page from that one Elsen, anyway), and heard a book snap shut nearby. He veered to the left, finding his puppeteer quietly inspecting some of the false shelves.

"The real ones have a rug under them, you know." He commented shortly. Silence looked up at him, and he noticed a new tinge of  something in her glance as she nodded, stepping back from the shelf.

"Sorry…. I wondered if… maybe… there might be a real book in among the fake ones. I guess that was stupid." Silence muttered. The Batter sighed.

"C'mon… there's an Elsen we need to go speak with." He turned, shaking his head., and out of the corner of one of his secondary eyes he saw her wince. " ** Speak  ** with. Converse.  _ Parler _ . Calm down, Silence, I told you we'd avoid fights as much as possible. Would you call me a liar?"

She shook her head, and he heard her say something.

"Pardon?" He almost turned, but suddenly she was ahead of him and on her way down the stairs.

"Not here. C'mon. Let's go talk to this Elsen." She snipped, a poorly-concealed tremble in her voice. He thought he saw something tucked under her over-shirt, but didn't ask.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize if it seems like there is some romantic attraction in the chapters; that is not my intent, nor do I mean for it to go that way. So, I'll reinforce it here.  
> ANY relationship between Silence and the Batter is PURELY PLATONIC.  
> Zacharie would kill our storyteller if it were otherwise.  
> Also; I need a name for Batter (and I deviated a bit from my own story-canon... gonna go remedy that a little later.). Something befitting of a King in the world of OFF.


End file.
